Got this yesterday. It appear and feels to some age. I am almost certain it is not African. I have just noyiced that the tassle end some that most so I will need to take a few more pics but thes will have to do for now. Close ups of the strip join. Added more pics do not show much but better colour.

Hi HD
Beautiful weaving and finishing details things that keep me so enthused on all things textile! I see that you have "ZULU" as a file ID - this piece is definitely not Zulu nor indeed from any related group I have encountered here in Southern Africa. Furthermore, the "ikat"(?) technique that seems to be employed is not something I have seen in textiles produced in either Central, East or Southern Africa.

Your textile might be a more modern Savu piece which is not in the full tradition of the Greater or Lesser Blossom styles, perhaps a weaver who is now a Christian and not weaving in the former tradition.

Thank you Pamela. It is so helpful to understand the the origins and any meanings to motifs seen on collected artifacts. I am a novice when it comes to textiles but I think there may be some vintage to this piece. I have great dissapointment regards to colour response and capturing subtle colours with my camera. These days my camara might be seen as rather old fashioned. Does anybody else find this a problem? Would a higher mega pixel number help.
This is also helpful.
http://www.asianart.com/articles/indone ... index.html

The general concesus is that this is a piece from Savu. I agree, this is probably warp ikat from Savu, the colours are a little obscure and contemporary, as traditionally they are morinda and indigo, and this piece looks rather too 'pink' may be the camera. The fringe has been finished with 'twining' making this piece a selendang or shoulder cloth. It is possible it is a christian piece but most likely to be quite contemporary. It is a 2 panel piece made on a backstrap loom with the join handsewn (not very well ) together. Good pieces of cloth are usually very well sewn together with a hand done crossstitch, this looks rather poorly sewn together as the cloth is puckering.
hope this helps. LP

Hi honeydarling, What you have is a man's hip wrap from the island of Savu. It is a 9 stripe piece. Savunese wraps always have an odd number of stripes or motif bands ranging from three to nine. I have seen thousands of Savunese textiles and the only exception I have seen is a four stripe piece that I have in my collection. Savu is a small, very dry island and during the long dry season the men leave to sail around the islands of Nusa Tenggara selling lontar palm mats and sugar. As sailors and traders they have come to establish enclaves at most of the major ports of Nusa Tenggara. Savunese textiles, therefore, are produced on many islands other than Savu. The Savunese seem to be very faithful to their traditions however, and one can not distinguish between textiles produced on Savu and those produced on other islands. The smaller 3 and 5 stripe pieces are used as head and shoulder cloths and the 7 and 9 stripe pieces are usually hip wraps for the men. If my memory serves me well, when I was on Savu many years ago collecting and studying textiles, the Savunese said the repeated motif in your textile was called "Boda". It was a common, traditional motif and I saw many textiles just like yours. Without digging out my old notebooks I can't be sure, but I seem to remember that the Boda motif represented some kind of flower. Perhaps someone else can help us out with more info.. I believe that the Savunese ikated and dyed enough thread at one time to produce an identical pair of cloths. They never seemed to keep the twins together, however, as I have only found one set of twin 3 stripe head cloths which I have also kept in my collection. Hope you find this info. useful. You have a very lovely, traditional Savunese textile! Best regards, MAC

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum